- In some early-season adversity, the early prognosis on New Jersey Devils forward Evgenii Dadonov’s injury isn’t good. According to team reporter Amanda Stein, imaging on Dadonov’s hand has revealed a fracture. He’ll be out for New Jersey’s current road trip, which concludes against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Monday. The team will know more about his recovery timeline once they return to New Jersey.
[SOURCE LINK]
Devils Rumors
Mammoth Waive Kevin Rooney, Assign To AHL
10/8: Rooney has cleared waivers and will be assigned to the AHL’s Tucson Roadrunners.
10/7: The Utah Mammoth have placed centerman Kevin Rooney on waivers. He signed a one-year, two-way contract with the club this summer. The deal moved Rooney away from three years with the Calgary Flames organization.
Rooney was on the Flames’ roster for the entirety of the 2024-25 season. He filled a true fourth-line role, and posted just 10 points in 70 games on the full year. Despite that, Rooney was routinely rotated onto the team’s penalty-kill, and his 47.2 faceoff percentage ranked third among all Flames centers to take at least 400 draws.
Rooney pulled his way back into an NHL role after spending the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons split between the NHL and AHL lineups. He totaled five points in 50 NHL games and 18 points in 56 AHL games between the two years. Before then, he found routine play in the Metropolitan Division, serving as a depth center for the New Jersey Devils, and then the New York Rangers, between 2016 and 2022. Through his career, Rooney has posted 60 points and 134 penalty minutes in 330 NHL appearances and 93 points and 156 penalty minutes in 242 AHL games.
An assignment to the minor-leagues comes as no surprise after Rooney signed a two-way deal. It would be a surprise to see a team claim the low-event center, only to be forced to hold him on their NHL roster or place him back on waivers. Instead, it seems more likely that Rooney will clear waivers and serve as the Tucson Roadrunners’ reliable veteran, until the Mammoth are in need of a call-up.
Devils Recall Zack MacEwen
The Devils announced today that they have recalled forward Zack MacEwen from AHL Utica. He was acquired from the Senators in exchange for fellow enforcer Kurtis MacDermid last week, but was placed on waivers the following day and subsequently cleared. No corresponding transaction is required; the team opened up two spots by reassigning Lenni Hämeenaho and Shane Lachance to Utica last night, and only filled one of them by signing veteran camp invite Luke Glendening.
MacEwen, 29, is now on his fourth team in the last four years. The undrafted 6’4″ forward can play all forward positions and, while he’s enjoyed some offensive success at the AHL level, has been a fourth-line tough guy type through the entirety of his seven-year NHL career to date. He has a 17-17–34 career scoring line in 237 appearances, including 323 PIMs and 523 hits for averages of 112 and 181 per 82 games, respectively.
While Hämeenaho and Lachance are a pair of intriguing youngsters in New Jersey’s pipeline, it’s clear now they were only included on the opening night roster for salary cap purposes as they aimed to maximize the initial relief from placing defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic on long-term injured reserve. Glendening should be in the opening-night lineup – he spent most of camp centering the fourth line between Paul Cotter and rookie Arseny Gritsyuk – while MacEwen should be ticketed for a press-box role to start.
He could end up back on waivers once winger Stefan Noesen is ready to come off injured reserve, which isn’t expected to be anytime soon. If it’s before Nov. 4, though, MacEwen could head straight back to Utica without clearing waivers since he’s already done so in the last 30 days.
Devils Reassign Lenni Hameenaho, Shane Lachance
The New Jersey Devils reassigned forwards Lenni Hameenaho and Shane Lachance to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Utica Comets today. The move corresponded with the team’s signing of veteran Luke Glendening earlier today. Both Hameenaho and Lachance are young forwards who appear relatively close to being NHL-ready, if they have not reached that status already. Lachance in particular had a strong preseason, but it would be surprising if both do not see NHL time at some point this season.
Lachance, 22, was traded to the Devils in March as part of the larger Trent Frederic trade, and signed with the team shortly after at the conclusion of his NCAA career with Boston University. The 22-year-old is a 6’4 winger who scored 30 points in his final 40 games in college and had two points in a two-game cameo late last season with the Comets. Lachance is the son of Scott Lachance, who has been a member of the Devils’ hockey operations department since his retirement as a player (2007-08) and currently serves as the team’s director of amateur scouting. Hameenaho, 20, was the Devils’ top pick at the 2023 draft and had 51 points in 58 games for Liiga’s Assat Pori last season.
Devils Sign Luke Glendening From PTO
10/7: One month later, the Devils have signed Glendening to a one-year, one-way, league-minimum contract per James Nichols of New Jersey Hockey Now.
9/5: The New Jersey Devils have signed four veterans to professional try-out contracts. The list includes former Devil forward Kevin Rooney, longtime center Luke Glendening, minor-league goalie Adam Scheel, and Russian goalie Georgi Romanov. All four players will report to New Jersey’s training camp when it begins on September 17th.
Rooney will be the most familiar name to Devils fans. He began his pro career with the organization, signing with the Albany Devils as an undrafted free agent in 2016. Within three seasons, Rooney had worked his way up to a hardy, fourth-line role in the NHL. He quickly became known for making gritty and hard-earned plays, but never scored more than 10 points in a single season with the Devils. He moved to the New York Rangers for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons, and has spent the last three seasons split between the Calgary Flames’ NHL and AHL rosters. Rooney has continued to offer a stout, depth role everywhere he goes – and will now return to New Jersey looking to earn a role at the age of 32. He has totaled 60 points in 330 NHL games.
Glendening will be another familiar name, if only for his longevity in the league. The now-36-year-old centerman also began his career as an undrafted free-agent, signing with the AHL’s Providence Bruins in 2012 after four seasons at the University of Michigan. Glendening returned to Michigan via a move to the Grand Rapids Griffins in his first full season in the AHL, and played a key, middle-six role during the club’s race to the 2013 Calder Cup. He moved to the NHL in the very next season, and has spent the last 12 years filling a confident, bottom-six role for multiple teams. His career spanned seven years with the Detroit Red Wings, before taking two-year pit stops with the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning. He’s proven consistent throughout, and boasts 166 points and 308 penalty minutes in 864 career games. With New Jersey already boasting a full lineup, Glendening could be set to compete with Rooney for the role of veteran depth-forward.
While Glendening and Rooney battle it out, so will depth goaltenders Scheel and Romanov. Scheel spent last season split between the AHL’s Colorado Eagles and the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies. He managed stout numbers in the higher league, recording a 10-2-2 record and .904 save percentage with the Eagles. But on a weak Utah lineup, Scheel fell to a 5-12-2 record and .884 save percentage. Also an undrafted free agent, he has totaled a .905 save percentage through 101 games, and five seasons, in the AHL. Romanov hasn’t been in North American pros for as long, but posted an encouraging .904 save percentage in 29 games of the 2023-24 season, and a .905 in 21 games last season. Those numbers were enough to earn him a handful of NHL games during the San Jose Sharks’ recent goalie drought. He recorded an 0-6-0 record and .888 save percentage in 10 games with the Sharks. Whoever wins the goalie battle at training camp will likely take on the role of third-string minor-leaguer behind Nico Daws and Jakub Malek.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images.
Devils Still Expected To Sign Glendening
While Luke Glendening didn’t land on the season-opening roster for the Devils, that shouldn’t be interpreted as him not having made the team. Per team reporter Amanda Stein (Twitter link), head coach Sheldon Keefe indicated that the veteran is expected to sign with the team before they depart on their season-opening road trip which begins Thursday in Carolina. New Jersey has set up their roster for an in-season LTIR placement which should come as soon as Tuesday, opening up the cap room at that time to sign Glendening. The 36-year-old had just seven points in 77 games with Tampa Bay last season but won 57% of his draws, making him a serviceable specialist on the fourth line.
Evening Notes: Markstrom, Willander, Mancini, NHL Top 10
The New Jersey Devils could be the next team to extend their starting goaltender. On the heels of a five-year, $34MM contract extension for Minnesota Wild goaltender Filip Gustavsson, the Devils are now working out a new deal for Jacob Markstrom, per The Fourth Period. Markstrom is entering the final year of a six-year, $36MM contract originally signed with the Calgary Flames in 2020.
Markstrom earned a second-place finish in Vezina Trophy voting on the second year of his last contract, after posting 37 wins and a .922 save percentage in 63 games of the Flames’ 2021-22 season. He fell drastically in 2022, landing at a .895 save percentage in 59 games with Calgary, and only rebounded to a .905 in 48 games of 2023-24. That prompted a summer trade to greener pastures, landing Markstrom with a playoff contender in the New Jersey Devils. He posted a middling .900 save percentage in 49 games of his first season with the Devils. That’s far from the .910 mark that Markstrom routinely challenged at his peak, but on a well-rounded Devils squad, average numbers from the aging veteran have proven supportive enough. He is sure to take a big hit on both term and salary in his next contract, which could take him through the rest of his career.
Other notes from across the league:
- The Vancouver Canucks made a pair of important decisions earlier today. They have assigned top defense prospects Tom Willander and Victor Mancini to the minor-leagues, after both clung to the camp roster to nearly the final day. Mancini played his first full season in the pros last year. It was certainly eventful, spread between NHL and AHL ice time with the New York Rangers and Canucks, and ending with a Calder Cup win with the Abbotsford Canucks. In total, he recorded eight points in 31 NHL games and 21 points in 54 AHL games on the season. Meanwhile, Tom Willander was a core piece of the National Championship runner-up, the Boston University Terriers. He posted 24 points in 39 games with the club – one point fewer, in one game more, than he managed in his freshman season. Willander is nonetheless a pillar of consistency on both ends of the ice, and will look to prove that soon with his pro debut in Abbotsford.
- The NHL has announced their top-10 players, wrapping up their Top 50 Players series just two days before Opening Night. The list is, of course, headlined by Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid. His teammate, Leon Draisaitl, holds the third spot, while Colorado Avalanche superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar hold #2 and #4 respectively. The rest of the list includes, in turn: Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, Panthers center Aleksander Barkov, Penguins center Sidney Crosby, Jets goalie and reigning MVP Connor Hellebuyck, Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Canucks defender Quinn Hughes. It’s hard to argue any other names should be featured on the list, though Panthers fans may feel salt in the wound seeing their captain, and perennial Selke Trophy candidate, landing in the top-10 on the heels of a season-ending injury.
Training Camp Cuts: 10/5/25
With final rosters due Monday evening, teams are down to their final few rounds of cuts. We’re keeping tabs on all of today’s demotions here as clubs near their final 23-man roster to open the season:
Chicago Blackhawks (per team announcement)
D Nolan Allan (to AHL Rockford)
F Ryan Greene (to AHL Rockford)
D Taige Harding (to AHL Rockford)
F Gavin Hayes (to AHL Rockford)
D Kevin Korchinski (to AHL Rockford)
F Paul Ludwinski (to AHL Rockford)
F Martin Misiak (to AHL Rockford)
F Oliver Moore (to AHL Rockford)
F Samuel Savoie (to AHL Rockford)
F Aidan Thompson (to AHL Rockford)
F Dominic Toninato (to AHL Rockford)
D Cavan Fitzgerald (released from PTO to AHL Rockford)
F Brett Seney (released from PTO to AHL Rockford)
G Mitchell Weeks (released from PTO to AHL Rockford)
D Ty Henry (to OHL Erie)
Dallas Stars (per team announcement)
F Justin Hryckowian (to AHL Texas)
F Cameron Hughes (to AHL Texas)
F Arttu Hyry (to AHL Texas)
D Vladislav Kolyachonok (to AHL Texas)
Minnesota Wild (per team announcement)
F Hunter Haight (to AHL Iowa)
D Matt Kiersted (to AHL Iowa)
Montreal Canadiens (per team announcement)
F Owen Beck (to AHL Laval)
F Florian Xhekaj (to AHL Laval)
D Adam Engstrom (to AHL Laval)
New Jersey Devils (per team announcement)
D Ethan Edwards (to AHL Utica)
D Mikael Diotte (to AHL Utica)
D Topias Vilen (to AHL Utica)
Ottawa Senators (per team announcement)
F Stephen Halliday (to AHL Belleville)
San Jose Sharks (per team announcement)
F Cameron Lund (to AHL San Jose)
F Quentin Musty (to AHL San Jose)
F Colin White (to AHL San Jose)
Seattle Kraken (per team announcement)
F Oscar Fisker Molgaard (to AHL Coachella)
F Ville Ottavainen ( to AHL Coachella)
St. Louis Blues (per team announcement)
F Aleksanteri Kaskimaki (to AHL Springfield)
F Dalibor Dvorsky (to AHL Springfield)
F Otto Stenberg (to AHL Springfield)
D Leo Loof (to AHL Springfield)
D Theo Lindstein (to AHL Springfield)
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
D Victor Mancini (to AHL Abbotsford)
D Tom Willander (to AHL Abbotsford)
Training Camp Cuts: 10/4/25
Less than 72 hours remain until opening night rosters are due on Monday evening. Teams are down to their final few rounds of cuts as a result, but some have more work to do than others. We’re keeping tabs on all of today’s demotions here as clubs near their final 23-man form to open the season:
Buffalo Sabres (per team announcement)
D Radim Mrtka (to AHL Rochester)
F Noah Ostlund (to AHL Rochester)
New Jersey Devils (per team announcement)
F Thomas Bordeleau (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Angus Crookshank (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Brian Halonen (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
F Zack MacEwen (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
D Dmitry Osipov (to AHL Utica)
D Colton White (to AHL Utica pending waiver clearance)
Pittsburgh Penguins (per team announcement)
D Alexander Alexeyev (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Tristan Broz (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Robby Fabbri (released from PTO)
D Ryan Graves (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
F Avery Hayes (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Bokondji Imama (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
G Sergei Murashov (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
D Owen Pickering (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
F Samuel Poulin (to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton pending waiver clearance)
Utah Mammoth (per team announcement)
F Cameron Hebig (to AHL Tucson pending waiver clearance)
G Matt Villalta (to AHL Tucson after clearing waivers)
Tampa Bay Lightning (per team announcement)
G Brandon Halverson (to AHL Syracuse after clearing waivers)
Vancouver Canucks (per team announcement)
F Nils Aman (to AHL Abbotsford after clearing waivers)
F Max Sasson (to AHL Abbotsford)
G Nikita Tolopilo (to AHL Abbotsford)
Winnipeg Jets (per team announcement)
G Dom DiVincentiis (to AHL Manitoba)
Waivers: 10/4/25
With a little over 48 hours remaining before season-opening rosters need to be submitted to the league, it’s expected to be a very busy weekend on the waiver wire. Not surprisingly, it’s another big list of players on waivers today as 17 players have been put there, per PuckPedia. Meanwhile, all 12 players on waivers yesterday passed through unclaimed, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman (Twitter link). Here’s today’s list of players on the wire:
Dallas Stars
F Cameron Hughes
D Vladislav Kolyachonok
Florida Panthers
D Tobias Bjornfot
G Brandon Bussi
New Jersey Devils
F Thomas Bordeleau
F Angus Crookshank
F Brian Halonen
F Zack MacEwen
D Colton White
Philadelphia Flyers
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Alexander Alexeyev
D Ryan Graves
F Rafael Harvey-Pinard
F Bokondji Imama
F Samuel Poulin
San Jose Sharks
Utah Hockey Club
Graves is the headliner in today’s class, primarily due to his contract which has four years left on it. We covered his situation in more detail earlier today.
Among the rest of the players, Bjornfot is no stranger to being in this situation but he has been claimed twice before. He spent most of last season in the minors with Florida but did get into 14 games with the Panthers and has 134 games at the top level under his belt. Alexeyev played sparingly last season with Washington not wanting to risk losing him for nothing on waivers but it appears that Pittsburgh doesn’t have that same level of hesitance. Meanwhile, Kolyachonok was claimed off waivers by the Penguins back in February before being flipped to Dallas over the summer so it’s possible another team might have their eye on him as well. Gilbert signed with the Flyers this summer after splitting last season between Ottawa and Buffalo but while the thought was that he’d at least be able to land a seventh role, that isn’t the case.
As for the forwards, San Jose’s White is by far the most experienced with 323 NHL appearances. However, he has primarily been an AHL player in recent years and it’s likely that he will clear and be assigned to the Barracuda. Poulin was a 2019 first-round pick but hasn’t seen much time with the Penguins, including just seven games last season. But at 24, he’s young enough to potentially be of interest to a team that wants to take a longer look at him. Bordeleau held his own in 27 games with the Sharks in 2023-24 but only played once for them last season before being moved in July in a swap of AHL players. But like Poulin, he’s young enough (23) to potentially draw attention.
These players will be on waivers until 1:00 PM CT on Sunday.